What is it about?
A manuscript travel diary about a journey to post-Napoleonic France, Switzerland and Italy by a vicar's daughter. She is otherwise unknown. This essay explores the object itself and its combination of literary and female needlework skills to make a unique memento of her journey. Using domestic materials and inspired by paper scrolls, it does not have any counterpart among travel diaries.
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Why is it important?
It is important as an example of female material culture and inventiveness, and evidence of commercially available resources such as fabrics and diaries.
Perspectives
The object was clearly cherished within her family and has remained hidden in plain sight at the British Library. This is the first detailed examination of the scroll and its fabric container, adding to our understanding of female creativity in the early nineteenth century.
Miriam Al Jamil
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Pen and Pin, May 2024, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004694729_003.
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